Glen Campbell Waves Adios With Final LP

I’ll never forget the one and only time I ever saw Glen Campbell perform, at the Atlanta stop (Chastain Park Amphitheatre) during his “goodbye” tour in the summer of 2012. It was simultaneously one of the most heartbreaking and joyous concerts I’ve ever been fortunate enough to experience. That is, until Kenny Rogers and his Botox came on afterward, as co-headliners. But let’s not allow that attitude adjustment to taint what was otherwise an ultimately uplifting evening. Campbell, surrounded by family and longtime bandmates, knowing he was in the beginning stages of Alzheimer’s, giving it one last, triumphant whirl for his fans.

Now, with the veteran singer and guitarist (who turns 81 on April 22nd) adrift in the final stages of the disease, comes word that the album he began work on following that tour will finally be released on June 9th. Titled simply Adios, it includes several songs written by Campbell’s longtime collaborator Jimmy Webb – the title track, “Just Like Always,” “It Won’t Bring Her Back” and a revisit to “Postcard From Paris.” Fred Neil’s “Everybody’s Talkin’,” Jerry Reed’s “A Thing Called Love” and Bob Dylan’s “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright” are also among the album’s 11 cuts produced by Campbell’s longtime banjo player and family friend Carl Jackson.

In a statement accompanying the album’s announcement, Kim Campbell, Glen’s wife of 34 years, writes, “Glen’s abilities to play, sing and remember songs began to rapidly decline after his diagnosis in 2011. A feeling of urgency grew to get him in the studio one last time to capture what magic was left. It was now or never… What you’re hearing when listening to Adios is the beautiful and loving culmination of friends and family doing their very best for the man who inspired, raised and entertained them for decades.”